Karen was not one who might be called a warrior at heart; she did not particularly enjoy being in the middle of a battle. After all, being shot at was something one might call an emotional experience. In fact, she would have stayed away from tank fighting if could. Her interest was in forming strategies and playing them out, which was why she was so fond of tabletop gaming and grand simulations like Hearts of Iron; getting shot at made her lose the calm she needed to think. But the rules stated that all participants had to take part in the battle in a tank, so if she wanted to command, she had to fight.
Or more accurately, she only had to be in an armoured vehicle within the designated match area. So what she usually did at every battle was have her tank parked in the nearest thick foliage, preferably as far back from the opponents as possible and stay there for the rest of the match, directing her team but not taking active part in the battle. To that end, some time ago Karen had her own tank modified: the main gun was replaced by a dummy one, removed the ammunition racks, and placed a whole host of radios inside. She even had a map table complete with 15mm tabletop pieces welded where the gun breech used to be. Sure, she wasn't going to be inspiring anyone by staying in the rear dishing out commands, but as far as Karen was concerned, this was all workplace accommodation.
While leaning into the cupola wall getting some fresh air musing, one of those radios crackled to life, from the M8 Armoured Car Karen had hidden to watch the southern flank. "We have movement in the south. I see two…four…eight…scratch that, it's a major assault! They have got to be throwing everything they have into this attack!"
At the same time, one of the German VK 36.01 (H)s also reported, "They're pushing the valley! Not too many though! Target tha-" an ungodly clang cut off the words, and the speaker continued with, "Gah, my head. That was close; VK 1 is still in action." One could almost hear whoever was on the end of that line massaging her head.
Karen dropped into her seat into the turret, closed the hatch, and reached for her radio set, "Got it. Looks like Luke made his move, and well-timed as always," speaking more to herself, she muttered, "I expected him to put more effort into the valley with those loan heavies," with a shrug she continued, "well, it was one or the other anyway; just like him to favour mobility in the open field." Karen looked at her map, moving the pieces into their known positions, aided by the jobless gunner and loader. "Charlie, 'Tasha, David, Joyce; you guys are the southernmost force, peel off and hold back the flank attack ASAP. And to everyone else: if you're not currently engaged, go help them. But not too quickly."
A chorus of acknowledgements followed. One voice asked, "Should we go as well?"
"No, Tom. If you're with Tom, keep to your pre-battle positions as I pointed them out in the briefing." Grabbing and rolling a pair of 20-faced dice in her hand, she watched the battle unfold on her overhead battle map. She suddenly chuckled and couldn't help but say: "Minimaps are so hacks. Let's see if you're as decisive and conservative as ever, Sulla."
They managed to make the bend around the hill unopposed. Strange, Miho thought. She expected at least a sentry to guard the southern flank, but nothing. They really seemed to be concentrating on blocking the decoy attack further north.
Ooarai's tanks were positioned to the right of the attack, and only had to move forward to act as the front into which Sagittarius team would launch themselves. Meanwhile, The nimbler and speedier Canadians would make an envelopment to the left, with the valley force making their own pincer movement from the right of Ooarai if they manage to break through the defence. In fact, the Cromwells were already some ways in front of Miho throwing up a mighty dust cloud, the need for swiftness tempered only by the desire to maintain formation. The comets were not far behind, and some of their commanders opted not to button up, favouring a better view to stake out good sniping positions.
"We see three Shermans to our 11 o'clock position! Approximately 2 kilometers away!" Azusa's voice rang out. Just three?
"Rabbit team, do you see anything other than those three?" Miho asked, unnerved from the lack of response.
"Let's see…there," Azusa coughed, spitting out the dust cloud left in the wake of the Cromwells' advance washing over her, "there's also a large dust cloud behind them."
"That must be their reinforcements," Miho muttered to herself, "Mako, get us towards the incoming Shermans."
"Got it."
"Miho, take care of the three; I will lead the left in a larger pincer around that mound and try to keep ourselves hidden for a little longer," Lucius instructed Miho.
"Too late Luke, you can't hide from me," Karen commented idly, smirking as she moved the Sherman pieces behind the mound on her map, their current position while her helpers moved the opponents' icons. Her little scout car had already reported all that she had to know about the southern force, discreetly stalking them and using Vimy's own dust plume against them as smokescreen. The valley was losing ground alarmingly fast, though; curse that delicate overarmoured piece of German engineering. She was genuinely surprised it hadn't broken down yet.
It looked like Vimy was still not used to working with anything slower than 40km/h; they left Ooarai in the dust, and leaving their entire right flank hanging by a thread to the rest of the line. "Southern force," Karen ordered, "engage the non-British tanks ASAP. Vimy might make a flanking movement to your rear, but don't worry about that. Worry about the enemy in front of you first."
"Gah! Hot, hot, hot! Ooooooh…." Karen's tank rang with the gunner's wail of pain, spilling hot coffee all over his right pants leg and hand. His flailing in an attempt to cool her steaming skin down struck the underside of the table, accidentally knocking over the miniature pieces so meticulously positioned on the map.
"Goddamn it, be more careful next time. Please. This is why I tell you to close the lid every time you stop drinking from the mug." Karen glared at him as he and the rest of the turret crew, including herself picked up the dropped pieces and placed them back on the table as they were. It took them 2 invaluable minutes, but it was worth it. It seemed like she lost some pieces still in the box somewhere on the floor…but they probably weren't important if she couldn't remember what they even were. Meh, she concluded as she continued juggling the dice in her palm.
"Gallica to Ferrata, enemy scout 6 o'clock. Engaging," one of the trailing Comets suddenly announced, bring its turret to bear. Miho snapped her head behind her, and after a good hard look, sure enough there was a silhouette of a moving object that did not look like anything in their arsenal was faintly visible. How had they missed it for so long? Who knows what kinds of intelligence it would have transmitted to its allies?
A gun thundered, followed by, "Target eliminated, proceeding as planned." Turning her eyes back to the front, Miho saw the three Shermans in the distance; this wasn't the time to think about the maybes, it was time to eliminate what was in front of her first.
"Hana, do you see the Shermans?" She asked.
"Yes, I do."
"Take the rightmost one," switching to her other teammates, Miho delegated the targets, "Turtle team and Hippo team, please take care of the leftmost and the centre Sherman approaching us. Anteater team, Goose team, and Rabbit team, please keep your eyes out for their reinforcements and take them out as you can; you don't need to wait for my orders."
"Understood!" The radio blared with the enthusiasm of the mentioned teams. The tank destroyers and the Pz. IV stopped, covering the rest of the club and making a fine lay to ensure a hit with their first shot, while the rest split off, moving forward to engage the reinforcements while keeping clear of the former teams' lines of sight. In the meantime, the Americans crept forward, taking care not to throw their tracks in the soft sand.
"Lee eliminated"
"B1 destroyed!"
"Easy Eight 3 is down!"
"VK-2 is down!"
Karen eagerly rubbed her hands together; the main phase of the battle was starting, with tanks being destroyed and lost left, right, and centre. She pondered her next move.
Their south was fully engaged with the Ooarai anvil Luke set up, trading shot for shot, and slowly but surely dwindling them.
The valley was slowly but surely losing ground and numbers, although they could hold for some time longer. In such confined space, superior armour and gun were more important, both of which Vimy had outmatched her there.
Viimy's left, the main pincer movement was the wild card. Since her scout was dead, they dropped out of radar, and could be anywhere. That sucked. But she could still influence where they would end up.
Karen picked up her radio set. "All tanks in the valley, retreat out of there and join the southern battle. VK-1 will provide the rearguard actions."
"…With respect, are you out of your mind?" The remaining VK screamed.
Karen bit off his reply. "Just do it. The reason will become clear later, and I'll explain myself in the debriefing."
"Alright, but it better be good, leaving one tank to fend off at least four."
With all her orders transmitted for the moment, Karen mused, "Today…today. Today I will see your shock attacks brawlfests defeated, Luke."
So they were being stalked by a scout the whole time. Thaaaaat sucked, Lucius had to admit. It forced him to take a longer route and more time to make his force scarce, making the job of hiding moving tanks in a desert even more difficult. Which was part of the reason why he wanted Ooarai to go headfirst against the opponents: keep them busy so they don't notice a plume of dust moving behind them. Well, he supposed he led his tanks far enough, and Ooarai was going to need help sooner or later. And if worse comes to worse, they could always power through whatever obstacle Karen would throw at them.
"The enemy valley force is retreating back south!" the commander of the Tiger P…Satoko, was it? shouted, "We've pushed them back! Hold on, their VK3601 is staying back to defend; we'll take of it and then join the main battle."
"Ferrata to Leopon and those nearby, great job," Lucius congratulated them, and declared, "the left pincer will redirect to the main battle as well now."
"You better hurry, because we can't hold on for much longer!" Anzu's voice was strained, taxed by the heavy fighting around her. He knew that too; The M3, and the Chi-nu were knocked out in their desperate defence against a swarm of well-armed Shermans, leaving only the Hetzer, the StuG III, and the Pz. IV to stem the tide.
"Understood. Ferrata to all troops, attack!" On his order, the mass of British tanks lurched forward in a straight line formation instead of their more usual trapezoids, intending to strike the Americans with an awesome rolling wave of firepower.
'Good thing I picked a good, high ground to set up on,' Karen thought, congratulating herself. While it wasn't enough to look down on all the tanks in the battle, it was enough to spot all the dust being kicked up by everyone. Even with her scout dead, she could still track the "missing" tanks.
"Valley squadron has retreated, and is entering battle to the south," one of the Easy Eights informed her.
"Good," Karen said, and warned, "just a note, Vimy's tanks are encircling you from the back, be watchful of some charging Canucks."
"A warning? That's it? You're not going to spring your trap?" the voice replied, alarmed and at least a little angry.
"The force by itself isn't sizable enough to beat them; not while they are alert. They need to be completely washed over by the prospect of an imminent victory; when their attention breaks down with an apparently imminent victory, then we will strike; shock them. Give them a taste of their own medicine." At least, that was the theory.
The line went silent for a moment. Then, "I like it. Except it relies on having a desperate fight…well, it's going to be an exciting match if anything."
"That's the spirit!" Karen remarked. With the battle reaching its most pivotal stage, she reviewed her map board.
"Round out!" Hana called out. Although the battle was taking place in winter, when the worst of the effects of the desert weren't as common, fighting in one definitely took a toll on her, and combined with the sheer amount of snap shots at medium to long ranges-Hana was definitely more used to closer-range engagements-causes many shots to go wide.
As soon as Hana reported her shot, Mako sped into action once more
Miho spotted a motion in the corner of one of the periscopes. A Sherman had stopped and turned its turret towards her tank, the muzzle already competently leading the German tank. "Brake, Mako-san!" Miho bellowed out, and the tracks screeched to a halt, pushing the girls forward.
At the same time, the Sherman let loose its gun a fraction too early, and unable to compensate for the sudden halt, the shot passed in front of the Pz. IV harmlessly. Miho once again ordered forward; others could be dialing in at her tank at any moment. All the while, she glanced at the horizon every so often; where was the reinforcements? Only the StuG, the Hetzer, and the Pz. IV remained in the battle, and they were on the verge of being wiped out at this rate before any help got here.
"I see them!" Erwin's voice broke the semi-controlled chaos in the three vehicles, "To the north! Cromwells!" Miho snapped her head in that direction and sure enough, a formation of Pink-clad tanks –Lucius had insisted on Desert Pink, overruling all opposition- jaws spread out as if to swallow the Shermans whole had appeared, cresting the hill.
They stopped in unison, and fired, knocking out two more Shermans and reminding Miho of a movie the Freshmen had her watch with them. The…the…Patriot, she remembered. Men drawn in tight line, letting loose massed volleys simultaneously and engulfing the field in shot and smoke.
"Ferrata to Anglerfish, sorry about the delay. Hopefully we're not too late to have some fun," Lucius spoke. Miho felt the ends of her lips twitch, despite everything.
"You got here just in time," she replied. Miho then continued to instruct Mako and Hana in marking targets, just as Erwin and Anzu were doing in their own vehicles.
Ooarai's heavies have cleared the valley with a troop-sized support – according to Vimy's system – and were within combat range of her main force. Likewise, Lucius's own force was already shooting up her force, all the while rushing forward to cause their signature panic. Ooarai, while bloodied were still putting up a good fight. Personally, Karen would have committed more resources to help them, but they held, and in the end that was enough. Her main force was surrounded and losing, hemorrhaging tanks.
Or, what they thought was the main force was losing. She had on her board – and therefore at her disposal – two more contingents spread out across the battlefield. The first one, placed slightly north of the current battle, was made up of six Easy Eights. The second one, placed even further north in the mountains, was a reserve line of the heaviest guns in her arsenal, M36 Jacksons. Four of them.
Karen clicked her set, and gave out her orders. "Tom, attack, now. Give it everything you've got."
"Understood! Fire up the engines! Time to kick those-" the rest of Tom's orders were drowned out by the Ford engines coughing to life.
Karen continued, this time to her force of M36s. "M36s, you have permission to exit turret-down positions. Snipe what you can from the hills. Remember your training; hull-down if possible, lead and call out your targets, and avoid shots that might induce friendly fire."
A collective of affirmatives called back. Karen sighed; in order to boost their numbers to a size she was comfortable with to test her tactic, she had to resort to pressing the raw reserve team into action, most of whom were only just mastering gunnery, driving, and radio operating. For all of them, this match would be the first ever tank battle of their lives; in fact, most of them had never even taken part in a single live-fire mock battle yet. She simply could not trust their nerves to hold when fired upon, which was exactly why she put them all in the rear lines in tank destroyers, leaving the veterans of the team to handle the thick of the fighting. Meh; in the end everyone has to have a first battle, and experience gained here could very well benefit them in further training.
With that, the last of her forces were committed, and the last piece of her tactic was in place. From here on, the battle would be decided by the fighters, not the thinkers. There was no going back. Karen gripped the dice she had been rolling in her hand the whole time, and dropped them on the map table, which then proceeded to roll across the flat surface. She rested her cheek on her now-empty fist, and muttered, "The die is cast."
The dice settled down, out of momentum.
Two, and one.
"Just three more!" Miho exclaimed.
It was true. It was almost over, Lucius thought as he wiped the sweat on his forehead. This was a good match; an exciting match. Unlike the tournament Miho fought back in Japan, she and her tankery team stood firm, accepting battle instead of ambushing or running away, trading shot for shot, and holding ground until her allies, his team, encircled them. Now all that was left to do was mop up the remaining Americans. Though the battle was quite short after he arrived on the scene...wait.
Lucius frantically swivelled his periscope about. With trembling hands, he contacted Anglerfish, "Miho…did you engage any enemy tanks on the way here?"
"No, we haven't Lucius-san. Why do you ask?"
He then asked the Duck Team, "How many tanks did you destroy in the valley?"
It was Satoko who replied. "Four. We knocked out the two heavy tanks, and they ran after two Shermans were destroyed."
Lucius slammed open the commander's hatch and popped out, exposed in the open, as soon as he heard "four". The rest of his crew looked at him in shock. Andrew in particular was vocal. "What are you doing, get back inside the turret! The battle may be almost over but shots are still flying in the air!"
Lucius spoke at a breakneck pace, explaining, "Four were destroyed in the valley. And, one…two…five…twelve. There're twelve enemy tanks here, dead and alive. Sixteen in total. That is way too few to be all of them."
He had scarcely finished talking when the ground around them erupted with splashes of dirt and sand.
"Africa troop, all tanks destroyed!"
"Danube troop, all tanks destroyed!"
They were under attack. Four tanks were destroyed in that first volley. Fired by enemies whose location he still didn't know.
His eyes caught a flash of light. Sunlight was glinting off the ambushing tanks. Lucius peered through his binoculars, and spotted six Easy Eights. Right on top of the hill he led his team in the other side of. Four more flashes, muzzle flashes this time, sparked even higher, in the mountain overlooking the entire ground. Jacksons.
Three of them missed whatever they were aiming at. But just one was enough, striking the side hull of the Tiger P. "Leopon team is down!"
"Ambush sighted! Parthica engaging!" The sole survivor of the Rhine troop, a Comet, declared, traversing its turret north.
"Euphrates will finish mopping, no support needed!" Minervia announced, as one of the two remaining Shermans from the brawl was knocked out.
Lucius returned into the turret and screamed into his set, not bothering with the formalities in this emergency, "Anyone who isn't Euphrates, turn your guns north and engage the enemy!"
Miho felt like face-palming. She should've realized herself that the Shermans she was fighting against were too few to be the entire number of the opponents, especially considering the number of the combined Vimy-Ooarai Team. Her mind was too occupied with fighting off the Shermans in front of her that she forgot to consider the big picture. This whole ambush could have been thwarted had she realized this sooner.
Oh well, Miho thought; whatever faults she made, now was not the time to mull of them. Instead, she called out to her teammates, "Hana-san, target their leftmost Sherman! Akiyama-san, please be quick on the reload, and Saori-san, keep a tally on which tanks are being targeted by our teammates!"
"Got it!" came the reply from her friends.
"Gun loaded!"
"Gun on target!" Mako applied brakes upon hearing Hana. The gun thundered, ejecting the spent case with a clang. "Bounced!" Hana reported, and the Pz. IV sped off once again, avoiding a barrage of shells just in time. The shot had bounced harmlessly against the side of the Easy Eight's turret, having struck it at an extreme angle.
"Round in! We've only got 15 shells left!"
"Lower the gun by two degrees, aim for the centre of the gunlock!"
"Miporin, Lucius-san says he's got the 4 tanks to the right covered, and wants Leopon and Duck teams to target the Tank destroyers in the hills!"
"Relay that to them, Saori-san!"
"Leopon team is destroyed! Seems like our little Tiger wasn't able to take all the fire without having some sort of an effect…" Satoko apologized. Another shot rang out from the ambushers, taking out one of the three remaining Comets. The remaining comets responded in kind, taking out a Sherman.
Her plan wasn't going as well as she had hoped, Karen had to admit. Despite the suddenness of the ambush, Vimy and Ooarai fought well, and destroyed her remaining Easy Eights, while they did lose most of their own strength. In fact, only 4 Cromwells, one Comet, the KV-85 and the Pz. IV remained alive. 'I probably timed it incorrectly,' Karen analyzed, 'our losses might have been lighter had I sprung the trap sooner. Oh well, working out bugs is what showmatches are for, anyway.'
But the commander of the Sagittarius Tankery Team was not worried. After all, she still pretty much had this match in the bag. To her mild and pleasant surprise, the novices in the Jacksons have done wonderfully, coordinating their fire to ensure the more dangerous tanks of the opposing team were knocked out first. Hence why almost all the Comets, the tank destroyers, and the Tiger P was destroyed, while there were still a few Cromwells running around. And all four of them were still in the fight.
And that was not for a lack of effort of the Canadian-Japanese team. In fact, all of their remaining tanks were still hammering away at what little exposed parts of the Jackson that were visible. But at over 1000m, their shells simply lost too much steam to knock out the hull-down M36s, while the M36s' own 90mm guns could make mincemeat out of any opposing tanks facing them.
"Jackson-3 reports enemy KV destroyed!" A jubilant crew leader shouted. Karen's "gunner" removed the corresponding piece from the board.
"Good job," Karen congratulated them while marking their next target, "keep firing and don't rush your shots. Take out their remaining Comet if you can." Then she declared, "Looks like it's my win, Luke."
"Mmmmmm…!" her gunner to her left stretched his legs and arms as best as he could in a tank, worn out after sitting in the same spot for a long time. The edge of his left foot caught on something, dragging it around the floor. Curious, he went prone, trying to see what it was; his foot pushed it further into a crevice. He shoved his fingers into the gap, and extracted a 15mm model piece. Upon bringing it up to the light, he snapped his fingers and said, "Oh, it's the rocket artillery figure! Wonder why it ended up there…"
Artillery? Oh, it was one of those rocket…artillery…that Vimy…..had.
Crap. "All Jacksons, leave, scatter!" Karen tried to warn her tank destroyers, but it was too late; she could already hear the terrible moans of the German Panzerwerfers unleashing their payload in the distance. Through her periscope, she could very clearly see the mass of smoke trails each rocket left in its wake.
Well, this could have gone better, if only he paid more attention to his surroundings when moving, Lucius condemned himself. Seriously, how did he pass by 6 Shermans and not notice that they were even there?! Imbecile!
"It's no use!" Andrew beside him declared, "at this range, with our guns, those TDs might as well be impenetrable!" He was clearly exasperated. And rightfully so. Those four Jacksons pinned the surviving members of the Vimy-Ooarai team behind a small dune, and every time a tank peeked out to make a retaliatory shot or movement, it was pummelled mercilessly by those snipers. Karen must have put her best gunners in control of those machines.
"No matter," Lucius rebuked his friend, "just keep firing; it's the only thing we can do, and maybe the repeated shots in the same area will create a weak point in their mantlet." Hopefully. To his Cromwell's front, the Duck Team's KV-85 peeked forward again to take a shot, with the last Comet behind him also moving to do the same – the Comet assuming a hull-down position of its own. Right now, those two were their last hope at a victory; only their long guns had a hope of realistically knocking out the four M36s exposing only their turrets to fire.
Lucius' hopes were dashed when the Duck team stayed into open a little too long, and the snipers on the hill fired four concentrated shots at them. Only one shot in four hit and penetrated, but that was enough. The flag – Lucius took a slight humor in the situation upon seeing the white flag, which had yellowed with time without maintenance – on the team's turret popped out, diligently reporting its status as a knocked-out vehicle.
"Well, looks like we lost…" Lucius let out, not exactly confident at this point. Then, a new voice, one that has not been heard during the entire match except at the very beginning, crept into the radio.
"Stovepipe 1 to Ferrata. The Stovepipe battery is prepped and ready to fire on your command at the remaining TDs." Mere words could not decipher the joy and relief coursing through Lucius's mind.
"Do you have a clear firing arc to the Jacksons?" Lucius asked, not completely willing to believe what he was hearing; any celebration could be premature.
"Yes; all vehicles are dialed into the targets and ready to shoot; all we need are your orders."
Despite everything, this sudden trump put a smirk into Lucius' face, as he ordered, "Stovepipe battery; target those remaining enemy vehicles, and fire, fire, fire for effect! Let the warcries of the gods of battle strike terror into the hearts of our foes!" dipping into quite flowery language to the end.
His order was met only by the sweet shrieks of the moaning minnies, unleashing a deadly barrage – in spite of being almost warheadless – upon the snipers. While the Jacksons' positions were ideal for fighting opposing vehicles at a much lower altitude, the absolute lack of overhead cover rendered them helpless against indirect fire. All four were awash in a cloud of smoke and cratering rock as their flagged popped up unnoticed in the maelstrom.
It was over. The Jacksons were all knocked out; the referee broadcasted the blackbox data, and the sight after the dust settled confirmed as much. "Looks like you outsmarted me again, Lucius. Just you wait until the tournament; I will beat you then." To the judges, Karen sent out a message, "All battle-capable tanks of the Sagittarius team have been knocked out; we concede defeat."